Newman takes lead over Chang in 29th state Senate race, bringing Democrats close to supermajority

By Jordan Graham, Orange County Register | Fullerton Democrat Josh Newman has taken the lead in the still-undecided race for the 29th state Senate District, positioning California Democrats to gain a two-thirds legislative supermajority in the statehouse.

With votes still being counted following the Nov. 8 election, Newman on Monday night overtook Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang, R-Diamond Bar. He led Tuesday morning by 829 votes.

Newman has trailed since the first vote counts were reported on Election Day and was down by 5,051 votes as recently as last week. Since then, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties – the three counties that the 29th straddles – have tallied a large number of mail-in and provisional ballots, which have so far favored Newman.